Thank you to Xpress for including MAHEC in the Wellness Issue highlighting area nonprofits working to fill gaps in maternal health care [“Support for Mothers: WNC Nonprofits Work to Fill Gaps in Maternal Health Care,” Jan. 28]. Although MAHEC was founded in 1974 and now provides a wide range of services — including obstetrics and gynecology, family health, internal medicine, psychiatry and behavioral health, dentistry and oral health, sports medicine, addiction medicine and maternal‑fetal medicine — many people in Western North Carolina still aren’t aware of the breadth of care we offer.
They also may not know that nearly 230 physicians, dentists and pharmacists are currently completing residency or fellowship training at MAHEC or that more than 1,550 local students received school‑based behavioral health services from our providers last year. These are just a few examples of our long‑standing commitment to the health and well-being of our mountain communities.
We’d like to clarify one point from the article: MAHEC did not create the Centering Pregnancy program. While this innovative model of group prenatal care is MAHEC’s preferred approach — due to its strong record of improving birth outcomes, enhancing patient satisfaction and building social support — it was developed by the Boston‑based Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI)…